History Repeating
by Moonlight and Mischief
Summary: She was the first to defeat his labyrinth and through time it called her back again and again
1. The First

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

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**The First**

The first time had been a joke.

Jareth had erected the Labyrinth only a handful of human years before he'd heard the wish. Even if he'd recognized the laughing tone of voice with which the words had been spoken, he could not resist trying out the great new challenge he'd inadvertently created for those who were so foolish to wish away their children.

And so, taking the cheap excuse, he'd descended on the Emerald Isle of Eire, closest to the land he'd once been from, and granted a young girl's wish.

"Ciera, get back here you disgraceful waif! You know father should be home with the council soon!"

A small girl raced past a stone wall, giggling sweetly, chased by a smiling older girl. Though past the marriageable age of fourteen, she was still young enough to hitch up her skirt and run after her younger sister, dark hair flying behind her.

"You've been too serious since you've reached fifteen summers, Saoirse. Come with me! I heard the goblins, they take little children over to the Hill when they steal them at night!"

"You've been listening to Aislin again haven't you?"

"But she told me the goblins come to get children when their mummies and da's wish them away!"

Saoirse laughed. "I wish the goblins would come and take YOU away right now. If we don't get back...."

Her voice trailed off as she rounded the standing stone monolith her sister had hid behind moments before only to find her gone. The air chilled around her as she whirled around in the otherwise empty plane, desperately searching for her sibling.

"Ciera? Where did you go? Ciera? Ciera!" Her voice rose in volume as her panic rose.

"You won't find her."

Saoirse gasped as she spun to face the silken, taunting voice. Her eyes met with a Fair One. His wild hair was flaxen, his skin light gold and his eyes pale. Her gaze captured his skin tight leggings and knee high boots, his loose shirt and long cape. Immediately, she dropped to her knees, concern for her own white dress forgotten. She lowered her eyes, afraid.

"My lord, I did not expect to meet one of Tir Na Nog. How can I please you?"

She heard rather than saw the smirk in his voice as he spoke. "I am not from the land of my brethren. Stand up, stand up."

As she rose to her feet, the shock began to fade and his earlier words struck her.

"What did you mean I would not find her? Where is Ciera?"

His humor was confirmed as she looked into his face. "What do you mean where? Did you not ask for me to come and take her away?'

She gasped, fear falling away as it was swiftly replaced with outrage. "It was not a wish! It was but a joke! All know that such wishes are only to be worried over at night! How could you take Ciera from something so foolish? It's not fair!"

"What's said is said, Saoirse. You should learn to mind your words."

"You must give me my sister back! She and my da are my only family in this great world after so many wars. Do not take her from me!"

"You are very brave to speak as such to one of my kind." His face carved into a cruel smile as he taunted her.

Her cheeks, which had been rosy in ire, paled at the realization that she was actually arguing with one of the Unseelie Court. Yet, even though she knew it to be stupid and that she would very likely die for her words, she could not back down.

"Please, give my sister back."

"No." Her mouth dropped open in shock at his succinct response. She was about to argue when he lifted his arm and pointed out towards the landscape. When she turned to look, Saoirse found herself in a land so wholly foreign from her own that she could but stare.

"You must find her if you want her back. Find her there in the castle at the center. If you can, she is yours to take back."

As she looked, her determination grew. "Fine. I can do this. I've always been good at finding my way."

"Really now, such confidence. But before you begin let me warn you. You have only Thirteen hours to complete the labyrinth before your sister belongs to me."

She swallowed visibly but looked straight and stepped forward to enter the Labyrinth.

Jareth sighed in frustration as he looked into the crystal sphere he held perched on his fingertips. The past twelve and a half hours had been fascinating, and informative. Knowing that she had been there, making her way through his Labyrinth, had robbed him of any desire to do anything else.

He'd watched, captivated, as she came against each pitfall, each hardship, and struggled through. He had known, in the way truth came to him upon seeing mortals, that she was the daughter of kings and warriors, that her mother, now gone, had been renowned as both bard and sage. She had come into the world with an inborn strength that her way of life had nurtured and brought into being.

A strength that was actually defeating his Labyrinth.

Once more, a heavy sigh escaped past his lips and he glanced to the young captured girl, just old enough to reason, as she played with the goblins around her. It had been some time since his hall had been filled with such laughter and he'd found himself eager to keep the child. But it was not meant to be.

He stood as the castle doors opened and revealed the confident, if somewhat dirty, figure of the girl who had done what he'd thought to be impossible. She approached him, head high, and stopped only when she was but a few steps from him.

"I have fought my way through your Labyrinth and through the goblin city. I demand the child you stole!"

His laughter filled the air and the dangerous sound, tinted with power and malice, silenced the noisy room around him.

"You come into my kingdom –"

"You came into mine."

"- and want to test my will."

"You certainly tested mine."

"What power do you hold here?"

She frowned. Her path through the Labyrinth had been long and hard and she was tired and sore. More than anything, she just wanted her sister back and to go home to her life with the family and people she loved.

"I did what you said I must. I completed your Labyrinth and in time. Please," she asked, her eyes begging where only moments before they had been defiant, "please let me take my sister home."

He stared at her, his light eyes cold and unreadable. Then without a word, he turned his back on her and walked away.

Saoirse reached her hand out after him, opening her mouth to protest, only to see that she was once more on the plane where she had started. A quick look down and she found her sister, asleep against the monolith that she'd hid behind some hours before.

"Take care with your words, Saoirse, lest we meet again."

She whirled around to see if he stood again before her. There was nothing. Slowly, and with a care due to a precious object, she picked up Ciera and returned home to her father. Upon arrival, she found that barely any time at all had past. Her father embraced her and the two went into dinner as if nothing had happened.

Years later, after her father had asked once more why she had decided never to marry, she looked at him with something in her eyes that he couldn't identify but had seen more and more over the years. She smiled at him sadly.

"Because, once, father, I met a Fair One and after him no other seemed to compare."

Her father nodded sagely and patted his daughter on her shoulder before leaving her once more in the peace he'd interrupted. Leaving her to stare into the fire and remember a time, a place and a person…all things which had changed her life forever.

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AN: I wrote this MONTHS ago but didn't post it for...some reason. Anyhow, this story is AU from the manga but takes part of it into consideration.

The names: Saoirse (Seer-sha) is Gaelic for freedom and Ciera (Kee-rah) is gaelic for Dark.

All the names that come up in this story were pretty well researched to fit time and place. Most of the names for Sarah sound something like it.


	2. Accidental Encounter

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

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**Accidental Encounter**

The second time was an accident.

Seren was past the age when she should marry. It was a fact that depressed her father greatly. He frequently went on about how her sainted mother would be ashamed of her obstinacy. Her stepmother would not stop reminding her that it was her brother, Tobias, and not she that would inherit when father died and as such she needed to marry and be taken care of. But Seren was different. She had dreams. And she, saints preserve her, was smart. Even more sinfully, she could read.

Her father, who lectured at the esteemed academy in their home of Oxenhamford, frequently tutored young boys in her home. Each time they came, Seren would sneak away from her darning and watch and listen and absorb everything her father would say. It was, in fact, this very thing that, when she was at last caught, brought down the blistering scolds of her stepmother. The woman went on from nooning meal to evening vespers about how improper it was for a woman to read, how no man would want her if he knew of her abnormality. Only the clergy could read.

And so they locked her in the solar with her little brother to "remember her motherly feelings" and "be a woman again."

What neither of her parents knew, of course, was that she had stolen one of her father's precious books, a book of tales, and hidden it in the solar the day before. As soon as they locked the door, she pulled it out from under the never ending pile of darning and found a spot in he good light. Carefully, she set the book on a stool, pulled a cushion to the floor before it, and opened it to where she had stopped yesterday.

It was slow going, she was still learning, but the story was interesting. In fact, she had been surprised to find a book of tales at all. Everything else in her father's library seemed to be about religion or mathematics. This, as far as Seren could tell, was about a girl, fourteen like she was, and a fairy king of old. She was absorbed completely into the tale when little Tobias toddled over to her and pointed to a line on the page.

"Wha?"

She smiled at him, brushing some of her dark hair out of her face where it had fallen from her top knot. "I don't now, Tobias. Shall we see what it says?"

He gurgled and climbed into her lap. While he played with her dress and his own soft shirt, she studied the phrase carefully. After a few minutes, she looked down at him with a sweet smile of triumph.

"I believe, my dear brother, that it says, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away…right now.'"

Suddenly, the room grew dark and a harsh wind blew in through the open windows. Carefully, she picked her infant brother up and put him gently on the ground before rushing to close the window casing. When she turned, Seren was struck still, her green eyes wide. Rather than her baby brother in a tattered shirt, she found herself staring at a tall fair haired man in dark tights shown off by a short tunic belted at the waist.

A faint blush flourished on her cheeks as she realized she had never seen a man who wore only tights and what the tight clothing did to show off a man's figure. As if noting her gaze, the man suddenly raised his cloak, tucking it into his folded arms. Instantly, the only things she could see of him other than his cloak were his shiny boots and his angular features painted with a menacing expression.

All at once, reality sharply returned and she realized that the attractive man before her was standing in her brother's stead. She looked quickly around the room, hoping that he had merely wandered away as he was want to do at times. But there was nothing. He was gone.

"Where is Tobias?"

"At last, the girl remembers her brother."

Her blush returned in full force at his words. "I just had never…who are you? Where is my brother?"

"Don't you remember? You asked that I take him."

"I did not! I don't know what – " she broke off. Suddenly, she DID remember the strange phrase she had read only a minute before. "But that was an accident! I was just reading to my brother! Bring him back!"

The man laughed sardonically. "What's said is said. He is mine now."

"No! Give him back!" She stepped towards him, voice pleading and skin pale. "Please, give me my brother back!"

"Now, now, Seren, why would you ask for him back when you could have this?"

As she watched, a crystal sphere appeared on his finger tips. He held it there but a moment before gently whisking it from one hand to another. Fascinated, she observed the sphere roll from one hand to the back of the other. At any moment, it could fall and shatter.

"What is it?" she breathed, never having seen such a thing before.

"It is a crystal. But if you look into it, you'll find your dreams. And not only dreams, but the dreams of your heart."

She frowned as she started. "What good is a crystal that shows me my dreams? I already know quite well what it is I dream about. And what I really want right now is my brother back."

The man before her smiled sardonically. "What if I told you it would grant you those dreams?"

She swallowed, eyes now fixed on the crystal. Her dreams…. She could stop the badgering of her step-mother; she could spend her days with her nose in a book. Not conscious of her actions, she slowly reached out a hand for the sphere he held lightly in his hand.

"Then forget your brother."

She jerked her hand back as if his words had burned her. "NO! Please just give me my brother back!"

"If you want him back, you must get him."

"Where is he?"

"There," he said, pointing to the distance.

As she turned, the world around her melted from hues of white and brown to an orange sky and earth walls. Those walls turned in and around on themselves, twisting endlessly. Beyond the labyrinth she saw a castle that curved in and around as if the very wind and earth had created it.

"He's in the castle?" she breathed, swallowing hard.

"Indeed."

"How long do I have?"

His laugh was like the wind and it sent chills down her spine that had nothing to do with fear.

"Clever girl. You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth and reach the castle."

"And if I don't?"

"Then your baby brother will stay here and become one of us."

She nodded and took a step towards the walls, determined.

-

She had returned.

Jareth had felt a great deal of surprise at the summons. It was her, the first, but reborn. Apparently, the first trip through the Labyrinth had not taught her to be careful of her words. Yet, even he would admit that he knew she had meant the words even less this time. Though she had been the first, many had followed her. Never since had he taken a child when the words had been spoke in jest.

But this time had been different. He had sensed her rebirth, sensed the one soul to beat him being reborn to the Aboveground. Never in the intervening time had he forgotten he girl who had beaten him, so, when she said the words, he had granted her unknowing wish. He had stepped out to her and watched as she had been fascinated in ways that she hadn't before. She hadn't the fear he'd inspired at their last meeting. Times had changed. No longer was hers a people who feared his kind. Instead she had viewed him as a man rather than a monster.

He found he rather liked the idea.

And so, he had teased her in ways he had never done to previous runners of his labyrinth. He'd appeared out of nowhere behind her, speaking words in her ear. He'd stood so close she couldn't help but feel him. It had been some time since he had felt so deliciously wicked in his taunting of a runner. He'd teased and hassled and taunted.

And she was about to win.

With a determination bourne of someone who had always been found wanting, she was making her way through the Labyrinth, the desperate desire to prove herself encouraging her. He had no doubt that she sought to solve the puzzles for love of her brother but it was something else, something deeper, that would ensure she win. He didn't like losing. In fact, the last time he had, she'd been the one to do it.

There was something in him, however, that didn't mind that she was about to win again. There was something captivating in the way she challenged him, the way she fought back. Rather than trying to find some way to trip her up at the end, he was anticipating her witty responses as she fought for her little brother.

He glanced up at the clock as she pushed the door open to his castle. He didn't even bother trying to hide elsewhere in the castle. The girl still had two hours left and was clever enough that he knew she'd have found them in any case. So instead he sat to wait. It was only a minute before she stumbled into his throne room. Her dress was tattered and dirty, her cheeks smudged with grime. Yet, the first thing he saw was the blaze of triumph in her eyes as they lit on his.

"I did it," she laughed tiredly. "It was dangerous and it was wrought with hardship, but I fought my way here, to your castle, past the city of goblins. Give me the child you stole from me."

She stood, chest heaving and eyes blazing while he stared at her. It was in that moment, when her triumphant green clashed with his cold pale eyes that it fell into place. He wanted her. Oh, he wouldn't tell her and it barely concerned him, but it was there. He saw her fire and wanted to tame her and control her passion.

But today, he would let her go.

He shrugged, rising to his feet, and strolled over to stand before her. "Are you sure, Seren?" He smiled summoning a crystal to his hand. "I can still give you your dreams. You only have to say yes."

She looked at him and, unexpectedly, she blushed. In that moment, Jareth felt an entirely different sort of triumph even as he accepted defeat. She raised her chin and looked at him definitely.

"I can make my own dreams happen, thank you. Now give me my brother."

He chucked seductively. "You can get your dreams on your own? Are you sure you can manage _all_ of them?"

The blush increased but the determination did not waver. "All the ones I care to see fulfilled."

He laughed and his voice echoed through the room, seeming to come from everywhere. He stepped behind her and she quickly spun around only to find herself in the solar, which had grown dark, and at her feet, her baby brother lay asleep on the pillow she had been sitting on hours before. She looked around quickly only to find that the Goblin King had gone. It was over.

"We'll see how you do on those dreams, little girl."

She shivered at the whispered voice so close to her ear. Still, she did not bother turning, knowing it was pointless.

Years later, Abbess Mary Seren closed her book, now bound in red lather, and smiled at the small volume. In the end, she HAD fulfilled most of her dreams, dreams of a life of learning, of words and powerful knowledge. Her stepmother had finally let go of her idea of her stepdaughter marrying when they paid the dowry to the convent. Still she had frequently wondered aloud why such a vivacious girl could take such a disinterest in men.

It was a truth that Seren had never told….

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AN: Name: Seren (SEH ren) is Welsh for Star

And Oxenhamford is the original settlement that later became Oxford. One of the oldest universities in the world I've learned.


	3. Innocently Earnest

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

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**Innocently Earnest**

The third time, she meant every word.

The plague had just finished ravaging Paris and there were so many dead that most could not count how many had died. It was devastating. Seraphine was no different. At the tragic age of seven, her mother had been the first in their small country town on the outskirts of Paris – where the farms began to grow. She had been the first to suffer the pain and the first to die. Her body had quickly been taken from their manor and dragged to the bonfire. Her father had bustled her out of the town and took her to a safe home in the deep country until the sickness passed.

Months then years passed and, when she was closer to ten summers than nine, her father called her home. Upon her return, Seraphine found a new woman in her home. The woman told her that she would be her new mother. Her father assured her it was for her own good since she was coming upon a marriageable age. Her friend from down the road told her that Iraina had been speaking of her blessed mother as if she was a demon, a bringer of death.

Seraphine was livid.

She did hold her tongue, for a time, out of consideration for her dear father. He'd been so distraught and claimed to have missed her so much that she was loathe to break his peace. But, one day, a summons came from the Dauphin - a settlement to her mother - and he was taken from them, promising to return as soon as he could. They bade fond farewells and watched him go.

Cordiality froze the moment he disappeared from sight. The two left the doorway with no words spoken and silence reigned. It lasted for many days and Seraphine took comfort in it. That was until one day she heard her stepmother speaking to the washing woman, complaining loudly that her predecessor was a demon who destroyed their village and now her malevolent ghost had even stripped her of her husband. Her words were full of malice and petulance.

In a rage, Seraphine threw her self towards the two women, but was stopped by one of the chambermaids. The young girl fought with her and pleaded that she do nothing rash. The master would be home before too long. She begged she go to her room and ignore her new stepmother. After a few minutes, tears streaming down her cheeks, she nodded silently and made her way to her father's study.

Silence followed her to the warm room she had always loved. Without hesitation, she went one wall and pulled out a thin red volume. It was her favorite book; it always had been. It came to her family with her mother. The two of them had spent many days marveling over the beautiful illustrations of magnificent creatures and a handsome man. Indeed, it was a story she had not heard until her father sent her away and she had hassled a wandering monk into reading the book to her over and over. The good man, mindful of her loss and pain, had read it often in exchange for her occasional help with his herbs and writings.

Many times, she had shed tears at the realization that her mother would never read it with her.

Suddenly her solitude was interrupted when the door was flung open. Her stepmother came in, raging.

"How dare you hide in here away from your duties?! You are just like your mother, a lazy spoiled witch who did nothing but wrap men around her fingers," she huffed, leaning over Seraphine. "As soon as your father returns, I will do everything in my power to have you shut up in a convent away from this home. Maybe the nuns will be able to work those demons from you."

"You take that back! Take back what you said about my mother!"

Iraina laughed. "Why would I? The witch brought that disease into this town. She killed my baby! She killed my precious boy! And you, you demon child, you are worshiped by your father and were spared by your mother and you sit there like a lazy slut and read a book while I work and try my hardest to make your father happy!"

"My mother did nothing! She died in pain and all of you chucked her out like so much rubbish! She was a good woman! You are just jealous that my father still loves her while you want to take her place!"

"I did take her place! She was gone but two months before your father invited me to his home. He didn't even want you back until the priest asked why you had not yet returned! You and your mother are unwanted witches! Demons!"

"Stop!" Seraphine screamed. "Stop it! I don't have to listen to you! You lie!"

Iraina laughed. "I don't have to."

"Shut up! I wish you would disappear!" she screamed and, suddenly remembering the book in her hand, shouted, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!"

Thunder clapped and the wind blew the windows open, blowing dirt and paper around furiously. Seraphine winced, covering her face for a moment. The harsh wind bit into her skin and she could almost think that it was angry as she turned her face from the windows. It felt like hours before the howling died down and she turned to face her opponent. Yet, when she looked, it was not Iraina who stood before her at all.

She stared up at him, awed at the stern figure before her. His glacial eyes were looking down at her in a way she might have guessed was disappointment from someone who knew her. She swallowed loudly.

"It's you, isn't it? You are the King of Goblins!"

He smiled coldly. "Indeed. And here I am having granted your wish."

Seraphine looked around, green eyes wide. "She's gone," she whispered softly. "You took her." For a moment, triumph flared in her eyes, but as the moment ticked by, her eyes looking around the otherwise empty room, her stomach twisted in guilt at what she had done.

"So then, are you going to tell me you didn't mean it, little Seraphine?"

"No," she answered succinctly, startling him. "I meant every word of it." She paused before continuing a moment later. "But that doesn't mean I don't regret it. She doesn't really deserve to be turned into a goblin."

He sighed. "So do you want to try and get her back or not?"

She frowned and looked more than a little petulant. Anyone who looked could see that she was fighting an internal battle over the question: whether to save the woman who wished her and her mother ill or to let her rot in the goblin world. After some time, she straightened.

"I'll try."

He laughed and leaned down to look her levelly in the eye. "You want to save the woman who just told you she wanted to banish you to a convent for the rest of your life? It's only fair that you wish the same on her."

She worked her jaw angrily, her young emotions almost swayed by the idea. But then her mind flashed to Brother Malachai and she took a breath and shook her head.

"Only demons sink to thoughts like that. And if I have to save her only to have her turn around and send me away, I am still better and more loved by God."

The Goblin King rolled his eyes as he straightened. "Ah, then, little girl, go that way. You only have thirteen hours no matter how sanctimonious you are." She nodded determinedly as she looked at her new surroundings. "And Seraphine," he whispered in her ear, making her start, "if you want to give up, just let me know."

She glared at him and, for the first time she revealed a smile. "If you really want to keep her, let me know."

He laughed and faded away into nothing, the sound still in the air.

Jareth sighed for what might have been the thousandth time since he'd started the time on this run. He hadn't been particularly surprised that she wished someone away –there was precedent – but he had found it aggravating. He had sensed the genuine summon from her wish; he'd felt the anger and hurt in her words. A small part of him had clamored in triumph that she had meant the words, had sunk to his level. But upon arrival, he saw that she hadn't, not truly.

With the heartfelt passion of someone so young, she had lashed out at the woman who had hurt her. She wished away a woman who was trying to rip her life apart. But it was a wish with regret. Immediately, she had known that she had done wrong. So, there she was, fighting through his Labyrinth for someone she probably never cared to see again. Her determination was unwavering. She would win.

Oh, he let her. At nine, no matter the age of the world, children do not know the words they say. And it was genuine regret. He sent her through and sent her help in odd and unobvious ways. He found his admiration for her growing still more. His fascination over this soul that constantly returned to him was growing. Even his cynical mind was beginning to wonder if there was something more to her returning.

But she was nine.

Jareth sighed.

He glanced out to the annoying woman that had been wished away. Not long after her arrival, she had been put to sleep. Even his patience for annoying noises had a limit. At the moment, several of his goblins were poking her with forks, sticks and parts of a chicken. He rolled his eyes and looked over as the girl edged her way nervously into the room.

She looked at him, fierce determination in her eyes. Quickly, her eyes darted around the room until she saw the prone figure of her stepmother. Seraphine took an unconscious step forward, worry on her brow, until she noticed the gentle rise and fall of her chest, proving she was asleep rather than dead. The worry faded away, replaced by frustration.

Jareth laughed softly at the obvious aggravation. "You sure you want her back?"

The young girl looked at him sardonically, weary lines etched into her face. "Not really."

He stood up and strolled to stand behind her, whispering as the devil on her shoulder. "You could leave her here and never have to see her again. Go home to your father and live your life without this harpy."

She stiffened and he sensed rather than saw the tears forming in her eyes at the fantasy ideas forming in her head. He felt her waver, sorrow growing so steadily in her heart in the moments before she shook her head.

"No. I can't."

For a moment, he hesitated. It was on his lips to offer that SHE stay instead, away from the certain turmoil she would face at home. Still, she was too young and too upset to really, truly, understand what he was asking. Instead, he sighed.

"If you ever should changer your mind, or feel the need, I will be listening."

She nodded, a few tears spilling over. Then she, and her stepmother, faded away. Jareth stood in the hall, suddenly bereft, and realized, for the first time, that he didn't want to watch how her life would change.

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AN: Name: Seraphine (SEH ra feen) is from the latin word Seraphim, the highest order of angels, and loosely can translate to "fiery one"

And, due to the manga listing her stepmother's name as Irene, Iraina was the name of choice. It is actualy Russian for Peace...so really it doesn't belong in 15th century France but whatever.


	4. Lost in the Translation

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

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Sorry. It was too funny an idea not to.

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**Lost in the Translation**

The fourth time it was a translation issue.

Sawa was mixed. Other people would stop and stare at her in the streets when they noticed her paler skin and forest eyes. She was considered lovely, one of the beauties of Edo. At all times, there were whispers that surrounded her. Some gossiped over her mixed blood and reviled her, even if she had been her grandfather that had been a foreigner. Some whispered at her family's high status and her beauty.

Many wished to marry her.

Sawa only wanted to read the curious book that she had found in her mother's things. Rin, her mother, had disappeared into the world of kabuki some months before and her father had taken up with a geisha who had fallen on hard times and needed a danna. She had been left to her own devices or to her training and had found herself curious about the small red book among the things her mother left behind.

And so, she sat with the book and her cousin, whose father had educated him to be a foreign merchant. The two poured over the book and Tobikuma kept pausing on one word over and over, unable to really give her a true translation for it.

"Gaburin," she murmured out loud. "You keep saying it. What does it mean?"

He shook his head. "I don't know how to say it. It isn't quite a demon…."

She frowned. "What does it say there?"

"It is a wish. A wish for them to take someone away."

"The Gaburin?"

"Yes."

"How about goblin? Would that work? 'I wish the goblins would come and take you away?'"

"…Right now," Tobikuma interjected, completing the translation.

"Right now," she confirmed happily.

A sharp wind blew, rattling the bamboo screens, and strange noises began to sound around the room. She looked around only to find that there was no one in the room, including her cousin. A furious look around the room proved that he was, indeed, no where in the large open area. In an instant, she was on her feet, at the door and throwing it open.

Suddenly, she was no longer in Japan.

The land before her was unlike anything she had ever seen. The land was dry and arid with a yellowing sky. Sand shifted under her foot, barely trapping the roots of trees and plant life she could never hope to identify. Walls that seemed to be made of the very earth twisted around and in on themselves, creating paths that made no sense, held no logic or reason.

"Do you like my Labyrinth?"

Sawa jerked, whirling around to face a strange foreigner with wild blonde hair and fierce pale eyes. He was dressed in a wild, outlandish manner that not even the foreigners who came to court could compare to.

"Who are you?"

"I am Jareth, King of the Goblins."

"Why am I here?"

"Because you wished me to come. You asked me to take your…cousin, was it?"

"I never –"

"Oh yes you did," he cut her off, smiling slyly. "You read from your little book. You asked me to come. Now I am here and you will just have to accept it."

She gasped. "Give me back my cousin!"

"No," he grinned. "You have to solve my labyrinth and come to the castle beyond." He looked down at her kimono and outer layers. "You only have thirteen hours, precious. I doubt you can do it."

Green eyes flaring, she looked at him and silently began to strip herself of her outer garments. At this, he chuckled, amused, until she began to pull at her kimono, untying the obi and stripping down to her under garments. His eyes flew wide at the sight of her bare arms and long legs unhidden by the short tunic and pants she wore.

"O King, I am Sawa of the oldest shinobi family in Edo. I have been trained and hold the honor of my family. I will not need thirteen hours."

Finally recovering, he bit out a short, "as you wish," and faded from view, ready to leave the woman at her peace.

--

Jareth marked the day he learned the lesson: don't mess with ninjas.

It was barely half past four hours since she had started the Labyrinth. In those four hours, her wished away cousin had gone from teaching the goblins secret ninja moves to telling them how to control their chakra. This was laughable since goblins did not, in fact, have chakra to manipulate. For a moment, he considered explain that but it passed as part of him was simply happy to have relative quiet in the throne room.

Still, it would all be over soon. This time she had come back with physical knowledge to add to her wits. Somehow, she'd managed to scale the wall and had proceeded to make her way through the Labyrinth by running over the top. And somehow, she'd managed to hide a weapon on her, a blade she used to tear through hedges and scare off his usual deterrents.

She walked in the door at exactly four hours and thirty-six minutes. He looked at her and sighed. This would not be the time. He knew now that she would be back and with a different face and maybe a different attitude. Ah well. He rose to his feet and strolled up to her, caustic grin on his face.

"You beat my Labyrinth faster than any other. I am not going to let you lecture me. I will let you two go after I do one thing."

She stared at him, her face flushed at his very nearness. She had never been this close to a man she wasn't blood related to. "What do you want?"

His smirk was out right dangerous when his hand darted out and pulled her against him. Before she could react, his lips were on hers and she was embroiled in such a kiss that she wasn't sure she could have imagined it in a life time of fantasies.

Then he was gone.

When she opened her eyes, she and her cousin were back in their home, her clothes back to how they had been. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary except the tingling on her lips and the soft chuckling that echoed in her ears.

…A few years later, gossip in Edo stirred when the daughter of a prominent house stole away on a ship heading to a foreign land, never to be heard from again.

* * *

AN: Name: Sawa (SAH wa) means help and harmony in Japanese. Tobikuma (TOH bi ku ma) means flying cloud.

Story note: Gaburin is the phonetic reading of the English word goblin into Japanese. When they later say goblin it is the actual Japanese term for it.

And really...this was an idea that popped into my head the moment I conceived the fic. "Don't mess with Ninjas". Hope it wasn't too ridiculous in comparison to the fairly serious tones of previous chapters.


	5. To Dream

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

* * *

**To Dream**

The fifth time was amateur theatrics.

"Milady! What are you doing home? Where is Lord Coventry?"

"My husband the Earl is still attending the Queens Jubilee festivities," the Lady Coventry responded promptly before quietly murmuring, "and pursuing his latest conquest."

"Then what are you doing home?"

Sarah Elizabeth frowned as she handed the butler her coat. "I felt that something was wrong with Tobin."

"I am afraid the young master does not appear to be well. He began fussing and complaining about an hour ago."

"Must be my maternal instinct," she smiled worriedly as she made her way up the stairs to the nursery.

When she entered, the nanny was crooning softly to Tobin as she walked around the small, cozy room. It was an endearing sight and she smiled as she quietly stepped into the room. At the rustle of skirts, Nana turned to greet her.

"Miss Sally, what are you doing here?'

"I had a bad feeling so I came home," she replied cheerily, taking the toddler in her arms.

The old woman gave her a fierce look. "You mean his lordship was mooning over some scantily clad widow."

"Now, now, Nana. I understood when we married that this was not a love match. And he is a good man and a very good father to Tobin. The light of his daddy's eyes. Really, I don't blame him."

Nana huffed. "That man goes dallying with every woman he can get his hands on. You say you don't blame him, but its not fair."

"Nana, it's fine."

"Bah! You should go find some man of your own to mess about with."

"Nana!" Sally laughed. "Go to bed! I am going to read to my son."

"That strange book you got from those Oriental ladies?"

"Mm. It is strange to think that I was distantly related to those Nippon ladies."

"Not really," she harrumphed. "You always really were a touch strange, Sally."

"Go Nana!" she laughed, closing the door behind the older woman.

Sally put Tobin down on the floor and sat in the chair as she rifled through a stack of books. Moments later, she pulled out a thin volume bound in red leather. She smiled down at her son as he played at her feet, the picture of a happy child no matter that he had been fussing not long before.

She loved her son dearly. He was the last highlight in her life. When she was young, she had frequently dreamed of a tall blonde man, with cool eyes, and a happily ever after. But she was born to a family of status and her parents had demanded that she marry and marry well. She had barely been seventeen when she spoke her vows and now at nineteen she had a child who alone made it worth while.

She would never admit it to Nana, but she had long considered taking a lover, as many of her friends had done. For a time, she had actively been seeking one, flirting with the young beaux of the season. But no one measured p to the dreams she still found herself having. He wasn't there

"Mama!"

Sally shook herself out of her thoughts and, sitting up, began to read the book to her son. She began the story curiously, unfamiliar with the words, but before too long, her lively denture broke into the reading and she found herself acting on the story to the increasing laughter of her small son. When it finally came time for the girl to say the words, she leapt to her feet and pointed at her son.

"I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now!"

The lights went out.

Sally cursed quietly. Carefully, she searched for the ottoman to put the book down behind her and felt for the table where the tinder and lamps were. After a moment of struggle, she lit the lamp and turned to look for Tobin. Unnoticed, the lit tinder fell from her suddenly lax fingers to the floor below, thankfully extinguished by the passing air before it hit the ground.

"It's you."

Her whisper broke into the preternatural silence that had fallen on the room. In the same spot where her son had been, a strangely attractive man now stood, smiling at her dangerously. He gave no response to her whisper aside of a slight widening of the eyes.

"I used to dream of you."

At this, his smile faltered and his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in curiosity. He stepped forward to look down into her eyes.

"So you dream about me, Sally?"

"I…," she began before suddenly regaining herself. "Where is Tobin? Why are you here and where is my son?"

"Now, now Sally. You just asked me to take him away. Can you not remember?"

"No! It was just a story! Give me back my son!"

He smiled at her cruelly. "Do you really want him back? A young woman like you? Wouldn't you prefer…a gift?"

As he spoke, a crystal orb appeared on the tips of his fingers. It was still only a moment before he began to hypnotically roll it between his hands while she watched.

"Your dreams, Sally. I can give them to you."

"Which…dreams?" she stuttered, a flush growing on her face.

His smile grew seductive and he stepped closer, so close that she couldn't breathe properly. With excruciating slowness, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Whichever you desire."

She shivered in a sensation that was furthest from fright. For a moment, she was weak and, as she stared into the crystal, she saw things she could only have ever imagined as truth. But her eyes closed after a moment and her resolve stiffened.

"Give me back my son, please."

"Very well," he smirked. "Your son is there."

He was so close that she felt rather than saw him point. For a moment, she could not tear her eyes from his, but when she did, she gasped. Gone was the dark familiarity of her home. In its place yellows and reds mixed together to create a landscape foreign and exotic. On the horizon, she saw a castle of windswept dreams and sprawling before it was a Labyrinth that seemed almost wild in its complexity.

"He's…," she began before letting her voice disappear.

"He's in my castle. If you want him, you must find him. Solve my Labyrinth, Sally, and you can take him home." His smiled dissolved into something sensual as he looked at her. "If you want to."

"Just solve it? That shouldn't be too hard."

"It is harder thank you think. And you have so little time." As she watched, an ancient clock appeared before her. "You have thirteen hours to solve my Labyrinth. If you fail, your son will be mine. Forever."

Before her eyes, he faded away leaving only the imitating landscape behind. For the first time since his arrival, she looked down at what she was wearing. In her fervor to see her son, she neglected to change from her dinner wear. Her corset was tight and uncomfortable and her bustle rustled with every movement. She could barely walk up two flights of stairs in the outfit. How was she to ever solve the Labyrinth?

With a sigh, she picked up her skirts and made her way to the door.

--

She was going to lose.

She was five minutes from the deadline and she had yet to reach the gate. Oh, she wasn't far, but, even with no resistance, she would never reach the castle in time. It couldn't be done.

He had watched her, all through the long Labyrinth, and had once more been struck by hear beauty, determination and cleverness. She was magnificent, truly, but, this time, it wasn't enough. A life of softness had ruined her. Even daily rides and long walks could not have prepared her for the physical turmoil of walking, running and climbing for thirteen straight hours. Nothing could have prepared her for attempting to do it in that ridiculous corset. It couldn't be done.

But, oh, she had come so far. Weak and stumbling, she was still making her way to the castle, determination writ on her every feature. She must have still been unaware of the time or her determination would have failed. He stared at that face, so beautiful, so tired, so strong and wanted to do something to help her. To break a rule. It shouldn't be done.

--

She was so tired. Every part of her body ached from misuse. More than anything she wanted to rest, to lie on the ground and let sleep offer to her some solace from the realization that had slowly been settling over her.

She wasn't going to make it.

Still, she carried on, pushing her exhausted body to the limit as she made her way through the gate and the unnaturally quiet city that lay beyond. She struggled up the steps and almost fell against the castle doors. Despite their size, they doors opened easily into the corridor.

She heard singing.

Curiosity revived her spirit and she followed the sound down a short hall and into a large room, messy with frequent use. There, against a wall, lounging in a throne, sat the Goblin King. IN his lap, her son lay cradled, precious, as the forbidding king crooned softly to him.

"You failed, Sally. You did not make it in time."

"No!" she gasped, running to her child. "Please do not take him from me!"

"Such pitiful pleas. Let me assure you, Sally, you are not the first to fail. Many others before you did not succeed and all of them were told the same thing."

"Please," she begged. "If you must take someone, take me."

For just a brief instant, his hand stilled in its movement where it stroked Tobin's head. "You would abandon your child?"

Her desperation turned to outrage in a flash. "Of course not! My son is very well loved and will be taken care of. His father loves him very much as does his nursemaid. He would be taken care of! What sort of mother would I be if I rather go free while he is turned into a goblin?!"

"Sally, Sally, are you really sure you want to give yourself to me? I would not play…nice."

She shivered at the look in his eyes which bespoke of every sort of wicked thing, none of them harmful. A flush grew over her features. "For my child, yes."

"What of your loving husband? Would you not miss him?"

She scoffed, her natural reaction to the idea pushing aside her normally polite manners. "I do not love my husband, nor does he love me." She shrugged at his querying look. "I like him well enough, but it was a marriage of convenience and necessity. Nothing more."

"I see."

He stared at her, unable to tear his eyes away. Here she was, after so very long, offering herself to him. Right then and there, he could have taken her and she would have come willingly. She'd be his at long last.

But something in him shied away.

She wouldn't be only his. She had already born a child with another man. Another man, who was so foolish and blind not to love her, had taken her innocence. And the child. It was a dear thing but it wasn't his and he wanted a child of her flesh and his. He wanted to be the only man she thought about. The only man she'd ever known and would know.

He, Jareth, King of the Goblins, wanted the fairy tale.

He sighed.

Rising gracefully to his feet, child in hand, Jareth gestured behind him, drawing her eyes for the first time to the clock she had seen so many hours ago. It didn't read thirteen hours, or more, but rather one minute shy.

She had made it.

"Does this mean…?"

"Yes, Sally, you make take your child and go."

Relief weakened her knees and she fell to the ground. In her peripheral, she noticed his booted feet come closer until they stood before her. A moment later, she saw a gloved hand, stretched before her face. After a slight hesitation, she took it.

Suddenly, she was in his arms, his lips pressed against hers. She moaned softly at the fiery sensations the kiss created. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it ended and she was staring up at the menacingly seductive Goblin King.

"Next time, I shall not be so generous, Sally. Next time I'll see that you lose, that you surrender yourself to me, willingly. And I will keep you forever."

She gasped, heart pounding. But he was gone.

* * *

AN: Name: Sally is actually a British affectionate term for Sarah.

This is also the only chapter that takes place in a very specific year, namely 1888, the 50th year of Queen Victoria, known as her Jubilee year.

This is the final chapter. There will be a short epilogue but really, the next chapter is actually the movie. I have sort of ideas for a sequel to continue after the movie but it isn't solidified in my head. Thank you for the kind reviews!


	6. My Will

I do not own these characters...for the most part.

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**My Will**

It would happen again soon.

He'd watched as her soul came into life again. So much sooner than he'd anticipated, she walked the earth again. She was, perhaps, a bit different this time, a bit younger of thoughts than she had been previous. Still, he could see it in the way she held her chin up and in the way she would narrow her eyes in concentration, it was still her.

He knew, as he watched her, venturing yet again into the mortal realm, that soon she would say the right words. Soon she would call to him and they would once again play their game.

This time, however, he was determined to win.

No matter the price.

-

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...

...to take back the child that you have stolen.

My will is as strong as yours..."

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-

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AN: Not really much of an epilogue, so I apologize.

Thank you to all the support for this story. I was really uncertain as to how other lovers of the story would like it.

I am planning a sequel but it is still...vague. As soon as I formulate it in my mind, I will start posting it as well.

Look forward to seeing you soon!


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